“We're still getting all the final numbers but the initial estimate was showing roughly 7,000 people attended the show on the first day, which was tremendous,” he noted.

Ordiales pointed out that the NYSCC committees worked hard to provide more benefits to the attendees—adding two full days of education sessions. The first set of speakers, who provided career insights, included industry veterans from both suppliers (Kevin Gallagher, Kevin Gallagher Consulting LLC; Tony O'Lenick, Siltech LLC; and Mark Chandler, ACT Solutions) and the consumer product goods companies (Snehal Shah, Estée Lauder; Brian Czetty, P&G and Mike Fevola, Johnson & Johnson). All of them shared their experiences and insights that helped them with their careers. The second part of the education session was a skin toxicology symposium in which industry and government experts (FDA) provided updates. The session was moderated by Nava Dayan Ph.D., Dr. Nava Dayan LLC. Speakers included Helena Hogberg and Thomas Hartung, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, Baltimore, MD; Nakissa Sadrieh, PhD, director of the Cosmetics Division in the Office of Cosmetics and Colors (OCAC), FDA; Ivan Boyer, PhD, DABT, Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR); David Gerhold, PhD,
Genomic Toxicology NCATS Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation NIH and Alex Armento, MatTek Corporation.

Of course, thousands of attendees were at NYSCC Suppliers’ Day to visit with hundreds of companies exhibiting an array of products including raw materials, instrumentation, testing services and more.

The masses were well fed, with complimentary sandwiches, and of course, the food trucks, which were a big hit with attendees. According to Ordiales, the food trucks arrived to not only deliver more food options but to increase the interaction between the attendees and vendors.

“Vendors had the ability to provide lunch vouchers to their potential customers as they talked about business prospects or use the wait time in line to the food trucks to discuss business opportunities,” he explained.

With 2016 in the books, the NYSCC has turned its attention to 2017. Booth signups will be announced in the fall, according to Ordiales.